Classroom Management

Classroom management is potentially the most difficult part of being a teacher.  You have to be able to work well with the class while maintaining a level of respect from teacher to students and students to teacher.  This does not have to be a hard task as discussed in the readings.

Pinnell focused on what a teacher can do.  Teachers can learn about learning.  They can learn about how students best learn and what works for their classroom.  My favorite advice from Pinnell was to take time to build a community.  The students should feel comfortable working together and sharing ideas with one another.

In Allington's article, he discussed the stereotypes of education.  People think that students are not receiving the same education that they used to.  Allington stated, "It is time to reject the notion that only a few children can learn to read and write well."  All students can learn.  All students have the ability.  So as teachers, how can we make sure that we are working with students to best meet their needs?

The idea above includes Attention Grabbers that can be used to maintain the students' focus in the classroom.  This is a great way to build the community while still managing the classroom in an appropriate manner.

Do you have any other ideas for how to best manage the classroom?

Assessment

In Rubin's article, he states, "The mandated tests tend to give a snapshot of a child's ability, whereas use of a variety of assessments gives teachers a more comprehensive portrait."  Rubin discusses the importance of using multiple forms of assessment with the students.

My favorite was when Rubin discussed using three different periods of assessment measures: during independent reading time, instructional time, and times of frustration.  By evaluating the students during these different times, the teacher will be able to better assess the student's overall fluency, literacy, and reading level.

In the above assessment, teachers can use a simple worksheet to review student's reading.  Rather than writing negatives, teachers can suggest goals for each individual student as well as distinguish their strengths.

By using many ways to assess the students, teachers can get a better, fuller understanding of their comprehension.  How as teachers can we monitor this more and make sure we are fully assessing students in the most fair way possible?

Guided Reading

After reading Veronica Hanke's article, "Guided reading: young pupils' perspectives on classroom practice," I learned about the importance of guided reading and how best to address it within the classroom.

"Although there are explicit rules to learn about behaviors associated with books in guided reading lessons, there were also implicit rules about interactions between pupils and between teachers and pupils."

As indicated in the article, most teachers address guided reading by having time for the students to meet in small groups.  Each student is given the same book and the teacher is able to walk through the text with them.  The nice part of being in small groups is that the teacher has the ability to create the groups based on reading level.

If the teacher's schedule does not allow for time to meet with the students in groups, there are many ideas of how to include guided reading as a center during rotational time.  On Pinterest, I found a great idea:

For the "Roll & Retell" activity, students roll a dice to see what question they must answer.  This activity would be great for groups of 2-3 students.  They can pass the dice around and take turns discussing the book they read.

Guided reading is essential in fueling student's literacy, but also a great opportunity for students to work together in team building activities and build social skills.  If you are a teacher who is dividing the class into small groups, how do you make sure that all the students are contributing equally to the group?  My concern is that one student might talk the whole time while another may barely contribute.  Also, if you did a guided reading activity like the one above for a center, is there a way to organize the books so that students are choosing from the most appropriate reading level without knowing that there is a system to classifying the books?

Vocabulary and Read Alouds

According to the National Academy of Education, "The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is aloud to children."

Why is reading aloud so important?  Lane and Allen's article discusses creating a classroom that fosters an environment of proper word use.  The article discusses modeling sophisticated vocabulary use.  One way to do this in the classroom is when reading aloud to students.  As a teacher, the students look up to you and want to model what you do.  Therefore, if you use sophisticated vocabulary and display the proper ways to read a text, students will pick up on this and want to model your behavior.

The picture above shows "whisper phones" made out of PVC pipes.  This would be a terrific activity for a center so that students can practice reading aloud while also working alone.  This individual activity may be more comfortable for the more shy students while also allowing everyone a time to practice using their reading voices.

Is vocabulary important in the success of students' literacy?  Yes, by enhancing a student's vocabulary, the student's reading ability is positively effected.

In Blachowitz's article, the author discusses ways to teach vocabulary.  One simple way is to increase the number of books available in the classroom by providing a wide variety.  With this variety, students will be able to learn new words through the incorporation of unique texts into their daily reading.

I want to know what my blog readers think...
1. With the structured curriculum teachers are required to follow, how can we incorporate reading aloud into our daily schedules?
2. Are vocabulary quizzes the best way to assess student's understanding of vocabulary?

Comprehension and Think-Alouds

What does it mean to comprehend?  Can you read the text and fully comprehend its meaning?  Or can you just think about the pictures and fully comprehend its meaning?  No.  In order to comprehend, you must do both - read the text and think about the text.

This activity is called a "Reading Salad."  Rather than just telling your students that you have to think and read, show them.  This demonstration will help them understand that comprehension is a combination of both.  

http://www.readingresource.net/strategiesforreadingcomprehension.html

On red note cards, write 'text.'  On green note cards, write 'thinking.'  As you read aloud to the class, have two students volunteer to each hold a bucket.  Each time you read the text, have them add a red note card to a third bucket.  Every time you stop to think about the text, have them add a green note card to the third bucket.  At the end of the story, look at the reading salad that the class created.  Have a conversation with the students about how reading is a combination of both reading the text and thinking about the meaning behind the words.

In Pardo's article, she discusses what leads to comprehension.  Comprehension is influenced by the interaction and transaction of information between the context/setting, reader, and text.  She recommended that teachers support their students' comprehension by doing the following:

• Teach vocabulary words.
• Teach decoding skills so students can read the words quickly.
• Build knowledge of topic prior to reading.

In Cunningham and Allington's text, they wrote about a technique titled, "The Oprah Winfrey Interview."  This technique allows for students to think aloud with one another and build comprehension.  For the interview, you set up a "show" setting and allow a couple students to sit up front like the guest stars.  Ask a few questions that allow for discussion such as what was the problem, why did this happen, etc.  Then ask the other guest star if they agree.  This allows for the two students to share ideas and think-aloud about the text at hand. 

After reading the articles, I still have a couple of questions.

1. Can students still benefit from reading aloud discussing the text with one other?

2. If comprehension is necessary for students to succeed in reading, how can you assess to make sure students are comprehending the text?  Is an Accelerated Reading (A.R.) type program best?

Making Words

How do you build word knowledge?  Is it by handing a student a dictionary and saying learn all these words?  The answer is no.  It is not that simple.  Building word knowledge takes time, but, if taught effectively, it can can work great for students.  

In Patricia and James Cunningham's article, they discuss lesson planning and ideas for activities involving making words.  One idea they shared was to give the students an assortment of letters.  From these letters, the students have to build as many words as they can.  

For example, you give them the letters C A W T P.

They respond with: cap, cat, pat, paw, tap

By giving them the opportunity to build words themselves, you can assess and see how wide or narrow their word knowledge is and check for false words (for example, taw is not a word).

In Ruth Yopp and Hallie Yopp's article, they presented another great way to work on making words with students.  For the lesson, you have students read a passage and ask each student to pick out the ten most important words.  This will allow students to work on focusing on the key points throughout the text while also building their word span.

One idea I found that seemed like a great lesson plan is called Word Family and pictured below.  You could do this with any objects so maybe a spider with multiple rhyming legs for Halloween or a snowman for the winter.  The teacher provides the base letters, like -all below.  Then, the students must list as many words as they can that have those same base letters, like call, fall, tall.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/244249979763423466/

These all seem like great ways to teach students how to make words.  However, when I was younger I mostly remember singing rhyming songs or laughing with friends as we tried to create silly words that rhymed with one another.  What about you?

1. Do you remember playing rhyming games when you were younger and trying to create words?

2. Does it help when creating words to know how to make them rhyme with one another?

3. What were some techniques your teachers used to help you when you were first learning to make words?

Wide Reading

Wide reading is reading a ton.  It is a contrast to narrow reading.  In the classroom, give students time to read.  Allow them to read different books like maybe articles from National Geographic or biographies about historical figures.  At school, teachers can promote reading by offering fun reading events.  In my first grade class, we got to bring our sleeping bags and go "camping" in the classroom. We were able to spread out and read whatever books we chose for a period of time.

Fluency

IENJOYEDREADINGABOUTFLUENCYANDHOWBESTTOTEACHITTOMYSTUDENTS.  Can you read this correctly and efficiently?  If you answered 'yes,' then you have developed fluency.  As fluent readers, we have the ability to decode the words and add the proper inflections while still understanding what we are reading.

According to Rasinski's article, there are 3 important characteristics of reading fluency that help build a reader's comprehension:

1. Accuracy in word decoding - "The reader must be able to sound out the word."
2. Automatic processing - being able to sound out the words naturally and easily so the thought can be more focused on understanding the meaning of the text
3. Prosodic reading - acknowledging punctuation and expressing the words

On Pinterest, I found one activity that will help students with prosodic reading.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/200128777163762281/

For the activity, each student is given the same paragraph.  Then, they are assigned a genre.  Each student then must read the paragraph in the tone and genre identified on the card above.  This activity will help students learn different way to express the words on the page and ultimately improve their reading fluency.

When testing a student's reading fluency, Deeney's article points out some things to look for:

• accuracy
• rate
• prosody - ability to read smoothly

As teachers, we can help improve a student's fluency by rereading books, having them echo how we say a sentence, or by continuing to practice sight words.

1. Should all teachers be required to have sight words hanging around their classrooms?  It can provide an easy and beneficial way for students to learn those words and improve their reading.

2. Reading aloud is a great way for students to practice fluency by hearing how you pronounce the words and decode the sentences.  Is there a good technique for having time each day to read aloud to the students while also allowing them time to read aloud to one another and practice fluency?

Coaching Word Recognition

"Coaching is a highly effective instructional technique in which teachers craft instructional cues that enable students to apply their developing reading skills and knowledge of strategies as they attempt to complete a task."

This quote was posted in Clark's article, "What can I say besides 'sound it out'? Coaching word recognition in beginning reading."  I love that Clark focused on coaching students rather than teaching.  By coaching, you encourage students to learn for themselves while encouraging them to apply the topic to their own lives.

Specifically when coaching, Clark recommends:

• Providing "general cues to promote thought" - Rather than giving your students the correct answer, give them guidance questions such as "Why?" questions to initiate their thought processes.
• Engage all students in the discussions.  When one student asks a question, ask for the other students to respond with what they think.
• Small groups are a great way to coach a smaller group of students for a shorter period of time (10-15 minutes).

In Cunningham and Allington's textbook, they suggest the following ideas to teach word recognition:

• Write a sentence on the board.  Cover the last word and see if the students can guess the word based on context clues.  If they are struggling, show the first letter of the word.
• List words the students know.  Then list words that rhyme and have a similar spelling.  This will help the students recognize the words.
• Play hangman.  Draw blank spaces on the board and allow the students to guess the letters that make up the word.

Here is a sample lesson idea to coach word recognition:

http://www.mpmschoolsupplies.com/ideas/3128/bubble-wrap-sight-words/

On the bubble wrap, write different sight words.  As the students recognize a word and pronounce it correctly, they can pop the bubble.  This provides a fun interactive way to learn!

1.  Do you have any ideas for ways to encourage word recognition in the students' everyday lives rather than only teaching it during the daily lesson?

2.  I have trouble remembering what it was like when I first started recognizing sight words.  Do you remember when you began recognizing words and what that was like for you?

Phonemic Awareness

The word 'book' has one syllable.  We have all known that since early elementary school years.  Some may count syllables on their fingers while others may clap for each syllable.  Both ways accomplish the same task of finding the syllables.  

Identifying syllables is just one part of developing literacy for students and increasing phonemic awareness.  The articles this week named a few ways to help develop literacy and phonemic awareness, such as:

• Have every student write in their own format then explain that each student may write differently and that is okay.  For example, one student may draw pictures then label them; another may start to form words based on the sounds of the letters.
• Practice repetition and rhyming with nursery rhymes, such as "Humpty Dumpty"
• Connect letters with common words or names to help students better understand, for example have them name a student in the class who's name starts with the letter 'M'

These are just a few ideas for developing literacy in the classroom.  In the IRA/NAEYC position paper, the motto "challenging, but achievable" was used.  I like this quote as it is very relevant when teaching students more abstract concepts, such as syllables.

Here is an idea for teaching phonemic awareness in the classroom:

http://mrsriccaskindergarten.blogspot.com/search/label/Phonemic%20Awareness

The activity above is called the Sound Hop!  Students will be given a word.  As they sound out the syllables, they will hop to a new circle with every new syllable.  This would be a great lesson especially for students who learn best from hands-on activities.

I will leave you with two thoughts:

• How do we know when to add accents to words in a sentence?  How do we best teach this to our students?  For example, these two sentences are not pronounced the same, even though they look identical.
• "I play the bass guitar."
• "I caught a bass fish."
• I find it so intriguing that we learned the basis of phonemic awareness at a young age and still use it everyday.  How do we make sure as teachers that we form a solid foundation and understanding of phonemic awareness in order to foster literacy for the student in the future? 

Building the Literacy Foundation

Building the literacy foundation for students starts at home and continues in the classroom.  Cunningham and Allington, the authors of the textbook Classrooms that Work write about "Building the Literacy Foundation" and how to do that in the classroom.  Some ideas are:

• Discuss why we read and write with students
• Encourage writing
• Allowing time for both independent and group reading time (see previous post, "How to Teach Reading" for more details)
• Develop phonemic awareness 
• Teach letters and sounds

The activity below will help with many of the above points that Cunningham and Allington highlight.  For the activity below, students will each receive a q-tip (you can substitute with using their fingers or a pencil) and a ziploc bag filled with hair gel, glitter, and food coloring.  Instructions to create the substance can be found at the hyperlink below the picture.

http://www.playathomemomllc.com/2011/07/squishy-bag-a-tactilemultisensory-approach-to-pre-writing-and-writing-skills/

This activity encourages writing by allowing students to write their own words or letters using the q-tip or writing utensil.  Also, students can work on letters and sounds while at the same time working on phonics by clapping the syllables of the words they write.  This activity can be used in many ways to meet whichever standards you are trying to cover making it a versatile and useful lesson plan!

While these are all ways of creating an environment that promotes literacy in the classroom, there are many ways to do the same at home according to the article "The Jones Family's Culture of Literacy" by Amy Suzanne Johnson.  Some easy ways to do this are:

• Have reading materials out around the house (magazines, newspapers, etc.)
• Demonstrate the importance of reading by taking time to read yourself as the adult of the home and set an example for your child
• Write letters whether that is thank you notes after a birthday party or simple just because notes

Those are just a few ways that literacy can be developed at home through simple lifestyle changes.  By making simple changes in your own life, as the adult, such as reading every night before bed, your child will imitate this behavior or at least be more familiar with the importance of reading.

In my classroom, I hope to promote literacy by teaching my students that reading is not a task to be done; it is something that we do everyday in our lives and can improve by just reading more each day.  Also, I hope to maintain good relationships with my students' parents so I can communicate with them and hear how their student is doing with reading at home while also sharing how they are doing in the classroom.

I will leave you with two questions:

1. How can we, as teachers, continue to "provide a print-rich classroom" during a time when technology is becoming so important in our students' lives?

2. As students, we learned at a young age some common alliterations and tongue twisters, such as "Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore" and those became a game and race to see how quickly we could repeat the same line without messing up.  Sayings like these will help students with phonetic awareness.  Are there other common sayings to help with sounds that we can introduce to our students and practice memorizing for emphasis?

How to Teach Reading

Every teacher is different.  Some may assign reading homework every night.  Others may have you read 30 minutes every day.  While some may have you read for a large chunk of time during both times of the day.  So what is best?

Both texts, written by Cunningham and Allington, agree that reading often is the most important, whether that is while reading an assignment or having a designated reading time in the classroom.  This leads to improvement in student's literacy and reading ability.  

How do teachers know if students have improved?  Allington's article recommends testing the students on an individual basis for a pre- and post assessment to look for improvements.  Both Cunningham and Allington in the text recommend having time for sharing with other students.  Students best comprehend what they read when they explain it to someone else and share with their classmates.  

https://learni.st/boards/18043/learnings/236393-marci-coombs-bulletin-board-ideas-

As a teacher, having an assortment of books will allow students the opportunity to choose titles that are more appealing to them.  For example, as pictured above, I could create a "Readbox" similar to Redbox movie rentals.  This well known logo would appeal to students while giving them the freedom to pick books of interest to them.  Also, I want to have a reading corner so that students can feel comfortable in their environment and willing to take risks when reading new books.  Lastly, I want to create a small group setting where students can share with other students about the things they find interesting in their books.  

Allington and Cunningham both made great points about how to help create an environment that is suitable for young readers and how to best help them improve their literacy.  But, I am still left with two questions:
1. How do you best encourage students to step out of their comfort zone and start a new book that may seem challenging at first?
2. Why do some students, like me, dislike reading in primary school then grow to enjoy it by the time they reach secondary school?  Can something be done differently to prevent the delay in finding the enjoyment in reading?